CHAPTER 3

New York
One week later
On Campus

The weather was far from pleasant. It was a dark late morning and as rain poured down and the wind howled a flash of lightning lit up the Campus. A few seconds later a loud boom of thunder echoed through the halls of the University. Inside on of the classrooms were a full class and their teacher, Professor Henry Jones Jr, who outside of the academic world was known as, and preferred to be to be called Indiana Jones. Dr. Jones was very well known amongst academic circles and had a great gift for being able to read ancient languages. He had a PhD in Archaeology, as well as being a scholar in history and the occult. He also spoke at least fourteen languages, as well as several dialects and when he was not out in the ‘field’, he spent the other part of his career teaching Archaeology and History here at the local University. His classes were already full and he had a waiting list for students to come in and be taught these fascinating subjects by one of the best professors on the Campus. On the blackboard behind him, he wrote one word.

ALEXANDRIA

“Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great, the conqueror King. This King also founded sixteen other cities of the Macedonian Empire. Alexandra was chosen as the new capital of Egypt because it was laid on a two kilometre part of land between the Mediterranean Sea, being in a northerly direction and Lake Mareotis being to the south.”

He paused and looked over at the class scanning the students. Young men wearing coats and ties and young women with bows in their hair. Several female students gazed in his direction and smiled dreamily at him.

“The rest of the city was planned on a Greek grid pattern and it is thought that this was done by Alexander himself, depending on which story you choose to believe. There were two main streets, Canopus Street and Soma Street. Where these streets crossed was known as the ‘Heart of the City’ and the Soma, which was the tomb of Alexander himself. The Soma was also the last of the Ptolemies and the Cleopatras, some of whose remains were still presently close to Alexanders own when the Roman Octavan, soon to become the Emperor Augustus, himself came to Alexandria as a conqueror after his defeat of Cleopatra the VII. And now we move on to another interesting subject. As you probably all know, one of the Seven Wonders of the World is the Lighthouse of Pharos, and this was built by Sostratus of Cnidus for Ptolemy II. No one knows for sure but, it seems most likely to be a tower over 100 metres tall, the bottom part consisting of a square, surmounted by an octagonal shaft and it wasn’t until the Middle Ages, when a series of earthquakes-”

Suddenly there was a loud clap of thunder.

“-Sounds like one outside, I’ll wager.”

The class laughed and Dr. Jones smiled and continued.

“Yes, when earthquakes were the final blows for this great monument, a fort built by the Sultan Qaitbey in 1477 is still standing now and is in very good condition today. Alexander was not only a learning centre but was also a major centre for religion. It was here that the Old Testament was first translated into Greek, probably for the benefit of a large Greek-speaking Jewish community. It was the melting pot of religions of the Eastern Mediterranean, where new synthetic Gods were created, like the Greek/Egyptian Serapis. It was also the place where Christianity spread and also the place where some of the most heated debates were thrashed out. And by this I mean literally! Now, near the ruins of the temple now lie the best examples of what are one of the most substantial remains of ancient Alexandria: its cemeteries. In particular, the catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa, the pointed underground tombs which were cut from living rock, in a mixture of Egyptian and Helenistic styles are one of the most romantic of archaeological sites.”

As Indy was about to ask if anyone had any questions, the bell rang for recess.

“Okay. Please see my assistant Irene for the assigned reading on this subject”, he said as the class left the room.

As he was gathering his paperwork together, a female student approached him.

“Dr. Jones.” She was a couple of inches over five feet tall and had medium length brown hair and brown eyes and looked as if maybe she had some Spanish heritage in her family.

“Yes”, he answered.

“I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed today’s lecture”, she told him.

“Thank you” he replied. “It’s Stella, isn’t it? You’re new, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s right” she replied.

“So, how are you enjoying the classes, generally?”

“Oh, I find them very interesting”, she said, studying his hazel eyes. “You have this really good way of making even the dullest history lessons sound interesting.”

Just then another female student came over to the pair.

“I enjoyed your lecture too, particularly the part about Alexandria being romantic and all.” she said, smiling.

“Well, I’ve got to go” said Stella. “See you again, Dr. Jones.”

As they exited the door, Stella said: “Penny, you’re unbelievable. How do you do it? Sometimes I wish I could be that good at flirting.”

“Believe me. It takes a lot of practice”, said Penny. “So”, she began “What do you think of our Archaeology Professor?” she asked slyly.

Stella paused for a moment.

“I think he’s, interesting. Seems really nice.”

“Oh, c’mon. You’re not telling me everything.”

“Okay, so he’s really smart with all those degrees and everything.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

“Gods. Give it a rest will you-” began Stella as they walked further down the hallway.

As Indy was gathering his things, a familiar face appeared. Marcus Brody, an old friend of Indy’s father, Henry Jones Sr. stepped into the classroom.

“Indy. Great to see you back!”

“Marcus! How are you?” asked Indy.

“Oh, I’m fine. How did the trip to Egypt go? I hope that it was productive.”

“Yeah, went very well. Managed to find what I was looking for”, he said, pulling out a wrapped object from the inside of his jacket pocket. He unwrapped the necklace and showed it to Brody.

“Excellent. Well I’m sure we can discuss it over dinner tonight.”

“Hmm. While I was there, Sallah mentioned something about an idea that a certain person had.”

Marcus smiled as Indy looked at him.

“Seems that this particular person thought it would be a good idea for me to, oh, get out.”

“I hope that you didn’t mind. You seemed in need of a bit of adventure”, said Marcus, as they headed down the corridor.

“Not at all”, said Indy. “It was great to see Sallah again. Must write to him at some stage.”

“Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men”, Brody began. “Oh, your father’s coming as well, if that’s all right.”

“Dad’s back?” asked Indy.

Henry Sr. had been away on a series of lecture tours around various parts of the country.

“Yes. He returned just after you departed for Egypt.”

Ever since their adventure last year on the quest for the Holy Grail, Indy and his father got on better than ever and they were often meeting each other for lunch and various other things. After experiencing Indy’s world last year, Henry had began to look at his son in a different light, and saw him not only with someone with archaeological experience, but someone with real experience in the field of adventure and after last year, Henry had seen just how exhilarating that the field could be.

“It’s great to see you and Henry getting along so well, Indy.”

“I know”, said Indy. “When he got shot, I really thought that I was going to lose him.”

“I’m well aware of that, Indy. Bear in mind that he thought the same about you. We all did when he thought you’d plummeted to your death. I’ve never seen Henry so worried before.”

“Tell me about it.”

As they reached Indy’s office, Marcus said “Well, Indy. I’ll meet you later tonight at your house at about 7.30?” he asked.

“Yes”, replied Indy, as he entered his office. “See you later.”

Earlier that day
Marcus Brody’s house

Willie Scott was sat waiting in the lounge of Marcus’ house.

She had first met him when she and Indy had returned to the States with Short Round after their Indian adventure in 1935, and after travelling to Delhi; it was wonderful to be back in America. She’d visited her parents in Missouri and it had been great to see them again. She had told them about her recent adventure, even though he thought that parts of it would sound unrealistic. But despite this, they believed here and were more than glad that she had survived the experience and was alive and well. They were also interested in meeting Indy and she had told them that one day they would get to meet the man that had saved her life, which they had done a few years ago.

She was here now in Marcus Brody’s house, because she had heard that a friend of Indy’s was in town. The lady’s name was Marion Ravenwood.

Willie had kept in contact with Indy after their adventure and over the past few years she had heard a lot about Marion. Likewise, she had heard about Willie and thought that it would be a good idea for them to meet and Marcus had made the necessary arrangements and he had told them that there was another reason for the meeting.

Willie said she’d meet Marion at Marcus’ house and the three weren’t sure how Indy would react when he knew that both women had met. Marcus thought that this would be a good idea to get them to meet before telling them the news.

Marcus entered the lounge.

“Ah, Miss Scott. I’m quite sure that Miss Ravenwood won’t be much longer now.”

She nodded.

There was a knock at the door. Marcus went over to the door and opened it, and there stood on the doorstep wearing a big smile was Marion Ravenwood.

“Marcus”, she said.

He kissed her on the cheek.

“Marion, my dear. How are you?” asked Brody.

“Very well, thank you. And yourself?”

“Yes, very well.”

Before he could introduce them, Willie stepped forward.

“You must be Willie Scott”, said Marion, smiling at the other woman.

Willie smiled back.

“Marion Ravenwood, I presume?”

They both laughed.

Marcus arched his eyebrows. Well, they already seem to be getting on very well together. Indy will be pleased.

“Ladies, would you both like something to drink. Lemonade perhaps?”

“Please”, they both said in unison. They laughed together as they followed him into the conservatory. There was a table and on it was some lemonade and glasses. Marcus poured them some out and put the glasses in front of them.

Both of the women sat down and thanked him.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be back in a moment”, said Marcus.

Willie smiled.

“It’s very nice to meet you. To be honest, I was a little bit nervous about this meeting.”

“Yes”, confessed Marion. “I felt the same.”

They laughed again.

“Wait until Indy finds out that we’ve met”, said Willie.

A smile spread across Marion’s face.

“Let’s not tell him yet.”

Willie smiled as she began to understand what Marion was suggesting. She put a hand over her mouth.

“No, we can’t. If he knew he’d probably start wondering whether we’d get on or not.”

Marion nodded.

“Or, he’d be wondering what we would be saying about him.”

“Do you think we should?”

Marion smiled.

“Yeah. Don’t see why not. Could be fun.”

Marcus returned.

“I see that you ladies are getting on very well. Too well, it would seem. I’m sure that Dr. Jones will be pleased, after he gets over the initial shock of you both meeting in secret.”

“Ah, yes”, said Marion. “But don’t tell him we’ve met yet. We want to have a bit of fun.”

Marcus raised his eyebrows.

“Ah, I see. A bit of fun at Indy’s expense. Oh dear. Maybe this was a bad idea”, he said to himself.

“No, not at all”, said Willie. “I think it’s a good idea. Now are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

“I will, but I wanted the both of you to meet first before we all meet up tonight. Besides, the news does concern Dr. Jones. I’m also hoping to meet another friend at the restaurant tonight, if possible. Now”, he said to both of them. “You know what time you’re supposed to arrive?”

“Yes”, they both told him.

“I just wish I knew what this was about”, said Marion.

“Ah”, said Brody. “All will be revealed. Soon.”